Samuel “Sami” Kierce, the troubled protagonist of Edgar winner Coben’s disappointing sequel to Fool Me Once, has spent decades running from his past. His life changed irrevocably during a backpacking trip through southern Spain when he awoke one morning in Costa del Sol covered in blood, next to the lifeless body of his girlfriend, Anna. Terrified, he fled the scene and returned to the United States, too afraid to confront the situation. Fast forward 22 years: Sami, now an ex-NYPD homicide detective fired for incompetence, has become a private investigator and a new father, struggling with debt while teaching aspiring sleuths at a night school in New York City. When he unexpectedly spots a familiar face in his class, he realizes with a shock that it’s Anna. He panics as she flees, igniting a desperate quest for answers that culminates in devastating violence. Coben cleverly interweaves seemingly unconnected side plots involving a famous kidnapping case from 25 years earlier and the release of a convicted murderer, but his characters are flat and his plot twists flatter. This is far from the author’s best. Agent: Lisa Vance, Aaron M. Priest Literary. (Mar.)

Reviewed on 04/11/2025 | Details & Permalink

Marais (The Witches of Moonshyne Manor) serves up an entertaining interactive whodunit peppered with riddles and choose-your-own-outcome elements. Socially awkward 21-year-old Destiny Whip has long taken solace in solving puzzles and mysteries alongside her fellow members of the Council of Enigmatologists. One day, she’s contacted by mysterious Mordecai Scruffmore, who invites her to Scruffmore Castle on Eerie Island to compete as one of two finalists for a coveted position as his family’s historian. Destiny is surprised, considering she never applied for the role, but she eagerly accepts, harboring suspicions that Mordecai might be her long-lost biological father. After she arrives, she’s haunted by visions that someone in the family will die, and she sets out to solve that mystery while digging into her own past. Readers affect which clues they get by choosing which chapter to read next, and are tasked with solving a series of brainteasers (answers can be found at the back of the book, for the less puzzle-inclined). There’s some subpar prose (“ ‘No, my lord,’ his butler rasps, his voice branded with agony as the stench of sulfur seasons the denial”), but for the most part, Marais’s execution matches her ambition. This is pure catnip for armchair sleuths. Agent: Cecilia Lyra, P.S. Literary. (June)

Reviewed on 04/11/2025 | Details & Permalink

Hart triumphs with this deliriously enjoyable sequel to Assassins Anonymous. Mark, once a legendary killer known as the Pale Horse, has assumed leadership of a serial killer recovery group that meets in a Manhattan church. Among the regular attendees is Astrid—the real identity of a notorious master assassin known as Azrael—who’s been conspicuously absent from recent meetings. Unlike Mark, readers know that Astrid has been snatched from the streets of New York City and is being held hostage on an island by unknown captors. After Mark gets a clue (in the form of a pizza whose toppings may contain a secret message) that Astrid is still alive, the group springs into action, though Mark struggles to balance finding his friend with his vow to abstain from violence. Hart toggles between Astrid’s perspective, sections that flesh out her history in contract killing, and Mark’s increasingly harried efforts to track her down. All the while, he keeps the tone sharp and the intensity high. Fans of Jeff Lindsay and Jeffery Deaver will delight in this series’ effortless mix of wit and brutality. Agent: Josh Getzler, HG Literary. (June)

Reviewed on 04/11/2025 | Details & Permalink

An Oregon detective is forced to revisit the murder of her husband in this sturdy series launch from Elliot (The Next Grave). Thirteen years ago, in Sacramento, Calif., assemblyman Derrick Bell and his wife, Noelle, were brutally attacked. Only Noelle survived, but she had no memory of the assault, and rumors circulated that she orchestrated the whole thing. After Derrick’s well-connected family ran Noelle out of town, she moved with her sisters and grandmother to Bend, Ore., and pursued a law enforcement career. In the years since, Noelle has become a respected Deschutes County sheriff’s detective under her maiden name and put the tragedy behind her. That is until the FBI reopens the case and sends agents to Bend to interview Noelle and her sisters. As the Agency peels back layers about Derrick’s past and uncovers shady dealings within her own family, Noelle is plagued by a series of nightmares. Everything comes to a head when someone tries to kill her in the middle of the investigation. Elliot treads familiar ground—an Oregon setting, characters in law enforcement, Noelle’s budding romance with FBI agent Max Rhoades—but keeps the suspense taut. This will satisfy the author’s fans. Agent: Meg Ruley, Jane Rotrosen Agency. (June)

Reviewed on 04/11/2025 | Details & Permalink

British playwright Pennant debuts with a lively cozy centered on the indomitable Miss Hortense, a Jamaican nurse who’s been living in Birmingham’s Bigglesweigh neighborhood since 1960. In the decades since Miss Hortense emigrated from Jamaica, she and her friends and neighbors have started an unofficial investigative service to look into local crimes. One case that has remained unsolved is that of “the Brute,” a man who, in 1970, brutally attacked a series of women in Bigglesweigh and left them for dead. Now, in 2000, Miss Hortense’s nemesis, Constance Brown, has turned up dead. Authorities believe she died of a heart attack, but Hortense fears murder. Then the body of a mysterious stranger is placed inside Constance’s house with a Bible verse taped to it, and Miss Hortense becomes convinced that the Beast has returned. Pennant populates Bigglesweigh with colorful, well-drawn characters and strikes an appealing tone halfway between sweet and melancholy. It’s a promising start. Agent: Nelle Andrews, Rachel Mills Literary. (June)

Reviewed on 04/11/2025 | Details & Permalink

The death of an influencer shakes up a small Australian town in this mesmerizing whodunit from McCausland (The Beautiful Words). When popular Instagrammer Paige White is found floating face-up in the lake by her rural home, the rumor mill starts turning. Though Paige made a fortune cataloging her picture-perfect life with her photographer husband, Andy, and their daughter, Viv, might there have been darkness lurking just beneath the surface? Or could an unstable follower have tracked Paige down and killed her? Paige’s childhood friend, Jane Masters—now a successful Sydney journalist—reluctantly returns home for the funeral, then accepts an assignment from her editor to dig up whatever dirt she can. Staying in the shabby family home she fled years earlier, Jane is visited by unwelcome memories of her and Paige’s high school friend, Audrey, who died by suicide after relentless bullying from their peers. The pace starts at a crawl, but McCausland gradually layers sizzling tensions and revelations into Jane’s investigation, which cast foreboding shadows on the sun-drenched setting. When the truth finally comes out, it’s a gut punch. This works equally well as a mystery and a warning cry against the dangers of social media. Agent: Tare Wynne, Curtis Brown Australia. (June)

Reviewed on 04/11/2025 | Details & Permalink

O’Connor (The Captive) debuts with an enthralling dual-timeline mystery that links two tragedies, 20 years apart. In 2003, a teacher in the seaside English town of Saltburn, North Yorkshire, asks his sixth-form students to write letters to their future selves after 17-year-old Ben Spellman dies accidentally on a class trip to the Lake District. Twenty years later, the students receive their old letters. The same day, Miranda Breivart is found dead at the bottom of a cliff. The police believe her death is a suicide, but her close friend Audrey—whose dreams of attending Cambridge fell through and who now works as a house cleaner for some of her wealthy former classmates—suspects foul play. Realizing only she cares enough to learn the truth, Audrey launches an investigation that soon casts doubt both on Ben’s long-ago death and the peaceful facade of a town she thought she knew. Early on, O’Connor writes that aspirations can be “a weight around your neck from which you can never wriggle free,” and she explores that idea to its fullest, with Audrey’s quest taking on a poignant, tragic quality from its first moments. Themes of moral relativism and class difference are equally well developed. This is a winner. Agent: Rachel Yeoh, Madeleine Milburn Agency. (June)

Reviewed on 04/11/2025 | Details & Permalink

Lippman (Prom Mom) triumphs with this charming mystery featuring Muriel Blossom, a Baltimore widow—and former assistant to PI Tess Monaghan, star of another Lippman series—who finds an $8 million lottery ticket abandoned in a parking lot. In the decade since Muriel’s husband died, she’s carved out a pleasant but bland existence with her daughter’s family. After she hits the jackpot, she makes arrangements for a cruise in France with her best friend, Elinor. On the flight over, Muriel meets the charming Allan, who takes her to dinner after they land in Paris. When Allan suspiciously dies the next day, the police question Muriel, since she was in one of the most recent photos on Allan’s phone. Enter American stranger Danny Johnson, who ingratiates himself with Muriel and warns her she might be in danger. After her and Elinor’s ship leaves port, Muriel’s stateroom is ransacked, a man attempts to mug her, and she learns Danny is lying about his identity. Lippman fans will be delighted by the appearance of Tess, who enlivens the plot after Muriel calls her for advice. By the time the clever conclusion rolls around, readers will be sad to see this trip come to an end. Agent: Vicky Bijur, Vicky Bijur Literary. (June)

Reviewed on 04/11/2025 | Details & Permalink

During the waning years of the Cold War, the CIA—in the person of blonde, bodacious junior agent Amanda Price—gets into bed with an up-and-coming L.A. metal band as part of a covert op to foment pro-democracy rebellion behind the Iron Curtain, in Kennedy’s bold if uneven debut. Undercover as Tawny Spice, staffer for a nonexistent music magazine, Amanda targets Rikki Thunder, a talented but emotionally starved drummer. Within weeks of their first hookup, Amanda manages to squeeze Rikki into the lineup of buzzy band Whyte Python. While Amanda and Rikki’s faux-romance blossoms, behind the scenes there’s a dead-serious CIA team toiling on every aspect of an operation designed to catapult Whyte Python to the top of the charts and send them on an arena tour of the eastern bloc. Newcomer Kennedy nimbly heightens suspense via numerous twists, including the apparent presence of a mole close to the band, without neglecting the story’s ample comic possibilities. Still, the tone aims for something like the gonzo heights of Tim O’Brien’s America Fantastica and comes up short. A diverting dive into the paranoid past, this picaresque rolls merrily along without ever really rocking. Agent: Yfat Reiss Gendell, YRG Partners. (June)

Reviewed on 04/11/2025 | Details & Permalink

A dangerous con man meets his match in this nasty thriller from bestseller Jewell (Breaking the Dark). For the past 30 years, Nick Radcliffe has assumed an array of identities to seduce, marry, and occasionally murder women of independent means across London. Now in his mid-50s, Nick has sunk his hooks into the recently widowed Nina Swann, who’s inherited a successful restaurant chain. The only problem? Nina’s daughter, Ash, doesn’t trust Nick as far as she can throw him. Nick tries to dial up the charm in hopes that, by swindling Nina, he can secure a fortune for the one woman he truly loves: his current wife, Martha. Ash, however, is prepared to bring Nick’s long con toppling down—even if it means finding his old victims herself. Jewell effortlessly toggles back and forth in time, illuminating the awful scope of Nick’s deceptions while setting up a wicked and satisfying cat and mouse game between him and Ash. Readers who like their psychological suspense on the dark side will be delighted with the results. Agent: Jonny Geller, Curtis Brown UK. (June)

Reviewed on 04/11/2025 | Details & Permalink